Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 25 (PTI) The management of ‘Madhyamam’ daily, a regional newspaper in Kerala, on Monday approached Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against former minister and MLA K T Jaleel saying he had attempted to get it banned in the UAE over a news report.
The ‘Madhyamam’ management said they had pointed out the protocol violation by the minister who had written directly to the UAE Consul General and the Chief Minister had positively responded to their complaint.
‘Madhyamam’ decided to approach the chief minister after the key accused in the controversial gold smuggling case, Swapna Suresh, had recently claimed that Jaleel had attempted to get the newspaper banned in UAE.
However, Jaleel denied the allegations and said that ‘Madhyamam’ had created concerns among non-resident Keralites by publishing photographs of those who died abroad due to COVID-19.
Jaleel told PTI that he brought to the attention of the consul general about such a news report which claimed that Keralites were dying due to lack of treatment in the Gulf region.
“A state minister writing a letter to the consulate of another country was a protocol violation. Also, his act was a move against the freedom of press. Even the CPI(M) has made it clear that it was not that party’s stand. Now we have met the Chief Minister. The CM said he didn’t know about the letter and said will take necessary action. We are satisfied with his response,” O Abdhurahman, the Chief Editor of ‘Madhyamam’ said in a statement.
Jaleel, however, said even the Chief Minister had on June 26, 2020 strongly criticised the publishing of photographs of those who lost their lives in Gulf countries.
“Madhyamam had published a feature carrying photographs of those who died in gulf countries. That caused some concern among the NRKs. Many relatives of those who died abroad had also come out in public against ‘Madhyamam.’ Even the Chief Minister had strongly criticised that move,” Jaleel said.
Jaleel said he had sent an e-mail from his personal id to the consul general to know the details of the news report published by ‘Madhyamam’ which claimed that many Keralites were dying abroad due to lack of proper treatment.
“I brought this to the attention of the consul general. I have never called for any ban on any media house,” he said.
Earlier, Suresh had accused Jaleel of writing a letter to the UAE Consul General over the report in the Malayalam daily.
The BJP had came out in support of ‘Madhyamam’ and sought the resignation of Jaleel as MLA saying he violated protocols by writing a letter directly to the UAE consul general. PTI RRT RRT SS SS
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